Women’s Top 25 capsules: Sophie Cunningham leads No. 15 Missouri to upset of No. 4 South Carolina

Sophie Cunningham was too much for South Carolina to handle for the second straight year, scoring 27 points to lead No. 15 Missouri to an 83-74 victory over the fourth-ranked Gamecocks on Sunday in Columbia, Missouri.

Cunningham, who suffered a right knee sprain last week and sat out Missouri’s loss to LSU on Thursday, returned with a knee brace but showed no ill effects. She made 9 of 10 shots from the field and had seven assists and six rebounds.

Last year, Cunningham scored 26 points and hit the winning shot in Missouri’s home victory over the eventual national champions.

The Tigers (14-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) shot 56.3 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from 3-point range. Amber Smith had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Bianca Jackson and Tyasha Harris led the Gamecocks (13-2, 2-1) with 14 points each.

(2) Notre Dame 77, Georgia Tech 54: Arike Ogunbowale scored 25 points, Jackie Young added 14 and the Fighting Irish (15-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had no trouble winning their eighth straight game with a victory over the Yellow Jackets (12-5, 1-3) in Atlanta.

Despite injuries reducing their roster to seven scholarship players and three walk-ons, the Fighting Irish used a dominant inside game to put Georgia Tech away early with a 30-point halftime lead.

Kaylan Pugh had 17 points and Francesca Pan scored 11, but they were the only Yellow Jackets to finish in double figures. Georgia Tech gave itself no chance, missing 22 of their first 27 shots from the field and looking nothing like the team that played No. 3 Louisville tough in a narrow home loss Dec. 28.

(3) Louisville 67, Virginia Tech 56: Asia Durr scored 21 points to lead the Cardinals (18-0, 4-0 ACC) to a victory over the Hokies (12-4, 1-2) in Louiscille, Kentucky.

The Cardinals made their first seven shots to jump out to a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Durr made her first five shots and scored 16 in the first period.

Regan Magarity scored 14 points to lead the Hokies.

(5) Mississippi State 83, LSU 70: Teaira McCowan had 31 points and 20 rebounds to help the Bulldogs (17-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) stay unbeaten with a victory against the Lady Tigers (10-4, 2-1) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

McCowan scored Mississippi State’s first nine points after halftime to extend a nine-point lead to 15 after being held to eight in the first half on 3-for-10 shooting. LSU got no closer than 10 points the rest of the game. It’s the second time this season McCowan has had at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game.

Morgan William scored 13 points and Chloe Bibby had 10 for Mississippi State, whose bench outscored LSU’s 16-2.

Chloe Jackson led LSU with 25 points and Raigyne Louis had 20 despite being limited by foul trouble.

(7) Tennessee 86, Vanderbilt 73: Mercedes Russell scored a career-high 33 points as the Lady Vols (15-0, 3-0 SEC) came from behind in the second half to outlast Vanderbilt (4-13, 0-3) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and remain unbeaten.

Vanderbilt has never beaten the Lady Vols at Knoxville in 33 attempts. Tennessee capitalized on its superior size to go on an 11-0 run midway through the second half and withstand an unexpected challenge from the Commodores.

Russell already had outscored her previous career high of 26 points by the end of the third quarter and ended up shooting 14 of 20 and pulling down eight rebounds. Cheridene Green shot 7 of 8 and scored 17 points – also a career high – and Jaime Nared added 15 points.

(8) Texas 75, Kansas State 64: Lashann Higgs scored 26 points and the Longhorns (13-1, 4-0 Big 12) used a big run to start the second half to beat the Wildcats (9-6, 1-3) in Manhattan, Kansas.

Even with leading scorer Brooke McCarty having a rough shooting day as she scored just nine points, the Longhorns had enough to beat the Wildcats.

Kayla Goth scored 17 points to lead the Wildcats.

(10) Ohio State 78, No. 22 Michigan 71 (OT): Kelsey Mitchell scored 37 points, carrying Ohio State through the final minutes of regulation and leading the Buckeyes to a victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mitchell scored Ohio State’s final nine points of the fourth quarter, then added nine more in the extra session, outdueling Michigan’s Katelynn Flaherty in a matchup of two of the nation’s best scorers. Flaherty had 22 points and eight assists, and Hallie Thome added 27 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines (13-4, 2-2 Big Ten).

(9) Oregon 70, UCLA 61: Ruthy Hebard scored 19 points, Sabrina Ionescu had 18 and Maite Cazorla 17 in the Ducks’ (15-2, 4-0 Pac-12) win over the Bruins (11-4, 2-2) in Los Angeles.

The Ducks won for the seventh consecutive game and remained perfect in conference play.

Oregon senior Lexi Bando hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 58 seconds left to give the Ducks a 63-59 lead and iced the game with a pair of free throws with 40 seconds left. Bando has the best active career 3-point shooting percentage in the NCAA at 45.7.

The Bruins had won a school-record 20 consecutive home Pac-12 games.

Syracuse 76, (11) Florida State 69: Miranda Drummond scored a career-high 38 points, including 11 straight late in the fourth quarter that lifted the Orange (14-3, 2-2 ACC) to a win over the Seminoles (14-3, 2-1) in Syracuse, New York.

Drummonod’s 3-point play put the Orange on top 58-56, the 13th lead change, with 7 1/2 minutes to go. She followed that with a layup and then hit a pair of 3-pointers for a 66-56 lead at the 2:42 mark.

The Seminoles, who had won four straight, got four quick points but Drummond nailed her seventh 3-pointer and the Orange made 7 of 10 free throws in the last 69 seconds to finish the upset.

(12) West Virginina 57, Iowa State 49: Naomi Davenport scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and the Mountaineers (14-2, 2-2 Big-12) beat the Cyclones (7-8, 1-3) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Along with Davenport’s fourth double-double this season, Chania Ray added 13 points and eight rebounds and Teana Muldlrow had 14 boards to go with nine points. The Mountaineers snapped a two-game losing streak.

Bridget Carleton scored 14 points for Iowa State, which swept the Mountaineers last season before West Virginia went on to win the Big 12 Tournament.

(13) Maryland 77, Wisconsin 44: Kristen Confroy, Kaila Charles and Eleanna Christinaki combined for 22 points in the first half when the Terrapins (15-2, 4-0 Big Ten) took a 19-point lead on their way to a victory over the Badgers (7-10, 0-4) in Madison, Wisconsin, for Maryland’s13th straight victory.

Maryland is only team in the country that came in with seven players averaging double figures and that balance was evident Sunday. Christinaki finished with 14 points, Confroy 12 on four 3-pointers and Charles 10 with Ieshia Small adding 13, 10 in the second half for the Terps. Maryland shot 46 percent and made 9 of 21 3-point attempts while outrebounding Wisconsin 42-25.

Courtney Fredrickson scored 12 points and Marsha Howard had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Badgers.

USC 65, (16) Oregon State 61: Kristen Simon scored 21 points as the Trojans (11-4, 1-3 Pac-12) rallied to beat the Beavers (11-4, 2-2) for their first conference win of the season.

USC snapped a three-game losing streak after rallying from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter. Simon made an open basket inside to give the Trojans a 62-61 lead with 54 seconds left.

Oregon State was down by two but a Katie McWilliams turnover – her only one of the game – against pressure by USC with eight seconds left ensured there would be no last-second heroics for the Beavers.

(17) Duke 69, N.C. State 56: Lexie Brown hit a season-high seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Blue Devils (11-5, 1-2 ACC) to a win over the Wolfpack (12-5, 1-3) in Durham, North Carolina.

Haley Gorecki added 13 points, making 3 of 4 3-pointers, for the Blue Devils, who had started 0-2 in the conference for the first time since going 0-9 in 1992-93. Brown made 7 of 13 behind the arc and 10 of 21 overall and was 7 of 9 at the foul line, bouncing back from having her 23-game double-figure scoring streak end.

Kiara Leslie and Chelsea Nelson both had 15 points for NC State, which missed its first 11 shots.

(18) Iowa 84, Illinois 71: Megan Gustafson scored 34 points with 12 rebounds for her 43rd career double-double, Kathleen Doyle had her second double-double and the Hawkeyes (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten) turned back the Illini (9-9, 0-4) in Champaigne, Illinois.

Alexis Sevillian matched her career-high with 21 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers, for the Hawkeyes and Doyle had 15 points and 10 assists.

Doyle had her first double-double of 13 and 11 on Thursday when Iowa lost at No. 13 Maryland 80-64. In that game, the Hawkeyes had 23 turnovers but against the Illini, they had a season-low seven turnovers and 24 assists on 29 baskets.

Alex Wittinger had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Illinois, which has lost five straight.

(19) Texas A&M 82, Auburn 73: Khaalia Hillsman scored a career-high 31 points and Chennedy Carter added 22, combining for 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Aggies (13-4, 3-0 SEC) beat the Tigers (10-5, 1-2) in Auburn, Alabama.

Danni Williams had 16 points for the Aggies, who handed the Tigers their first home loss of the 2017-18 athletic year in women’s and men’s basketball and football combined.

McKay was 11 of 11 from the foul line and had 25 points for Auburn, which set a school record by making 16 of 16 free throws. Unique Thompson added 22 points.

(20) Oklahoma State 96, Oklahoma 82: Loryn Goodwin scored 31 points with eight rebounds and five assists to help lead the Cowgirls (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) in a win over the Sooners (7-8, 2-2) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

It was the eighth straight game that Goodwin topped 20 points and her second 30-point outing of the season. Kaylee Jensen added 27 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma State, which snapped a three-game losing streak in the intrastate series known as ‘Bedlam.’

Maddie Manning scored 25 points and added eight rebounds, while Vionise Pierre-Louis had 19 points – 15 in the second half – and six rebounds for Oklahoma. The Sooners had won two in a row following a four-game losing streak.

(23) California 53, Arizona 51: Mikayla Cowling hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to help the Golden Bears (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12) beat the Wildcats (4-11, 0-3) in Tucson, Arizona.

Cowling’s final 3-pointer, with 4:09 left in the game, gave the Golden Bears a 53-45 lead. But it was also their last basket as they missed their only other shot and had four turnovers down the stretch.

The Wildcats, who have lost five straight, only made 2 of 10 shots after Cowling’s basket, but closed within two on two free throws from Sam Thomas with 41 seconds left. Thomas had a steal with 12 seconds left but a final shot wouldn’t fall for Sammy Fatkin.

Thomas and JaLea Bennett both had 13 points for Arizona.

(25) Arizona State 73, (24) Stanford 66: Charnea Johnson-Chapman scored a career-high 16 points and the Sun Devils (13-3, 4-0 Pac-12) beat the Cardinal (9-7, 3-1) in Tempe, Arizona.

Reili Richardson added 11 points for the Sun Devils, who won their sixth straight.

Billed as “Snow Day” with fans invited to play in trucked-in snow before the game, frigid shooting doomed the Cardinals. Brittany McPhee and Kiana Williams scored on consecutive possessions early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 50. After that, the Cardinal went 3 of 18 until making their last three shots in the final 24 seconds.

Williams had 14 points, DiJonai Carrington had 13 and McPhee 12 for the Cardinal, who were outrebounded 47-24.